i wrote a thing on this like a decade ago it's part of why condo fees in berlin and other cities are so low www.theurbanist.org/2018/08/22/i...

Acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen’s ambitious plan would also expand — from 20 to 30 routes — the so-called “Frequent Bus Network” that provides service “every ten minutes or better” between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. trib.al/Va4Ri0r

Those who agree - "I am willing to accept slower economic growth in Canada if it means greater economic independence from the United States" 🟢 All: 70% 🟢 Liberals: 86% 🟢 NDP: 77% 🟢 Conservatives: 55% Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/canadian...

🍁Les Canadiens prêts à souffrir pour s’affranchir des États-Unis 📊Un sondage Abacus Data indique que les Canadiens seraient prêts au sacrifice économique afin que le Canada se défasse de sa dépendance commerciale à l’égard des États-Unis. lactualite.com/politique/le...

***Exactly*** the result I was worried about with this election. Not ripping out the busiest bike routes, but sabotaging great projects that are planned or under construction. The new mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville considering dismantling the REV on Henri-Bourassa and downgrading the bus lanes.

The experience of having a baby in Canada — with healthcare, maternity leave, and subsidized daycare at $9 a day (Quebec) — really made the lack of social supports in the US feel downright cruel. Everyone knows about healthcare but there’s so much more. It’s genuinely sad.

My new article "Immigration is Not Invasion" is now up on SSRN. It comprehensively explains why illegal migration and drug smuggling do not qualify as "invasion" under the Constitution and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

***Exactly*** the result I was worried about with this election. Not ripping out the busiest bike routes, but sabotaging great projects that are planned or under construction. The new mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville considering dismantling the REV on Henri-Bourassa and downgrading the bus lanes.

While I voted for Projet Montréal for their record on active transportation, one proposal from Transition I appreciated was electoral reform. Not because I think it will help my policies specifically, but because it’s good for the health of democracy. I’d like to see other parties get on board.

Filming the awesome infrastructure under construction is bittersweet, knowing that we’re going to get less of it in the next four years. Possibly much less.

lowkey crazy to get ridership like this for slow ass half hourly (at best!) trains. canada has so much demand for public transit. I hope GO expansion can get its shit together to provide all these people the service they deserve

Lots of things in Canada’s federal budget: Big deficits. Big military spending. Public service cuts. Fewer trees being planted. Trying to join Eurovision. Aid for embattled industries. Crazy thinking how much of this is happening because the elephant decided to roll over onto us.

Today I learned that US Election Day in November is not just federal. It also includes most state and even many local races. In Canada, election timing is much more variable. Federal/provincial can happen any time (but fall is common). Municipal elections are fixed but the day varies by province.

Filming the awesome infrastructure under construction is bittersweet, knowing that we’re going to get less of it in the next four years. Possibly much less.

A new book has arrived! Looking forward to reading “Life After Cars” from @thewaroncars.bsky.social Good family reading with a baby, to be paired with “Llama Llama Red Pajama”.

So much of the housing crisis stems from politicians choosing to block housing and cause huge economic and societal damage in order to avoid “an ugly change” for rich people

Montreal’s REV Saint-Denis is the third busiest bike lane (with a counter) in North America, behind two NYC bridges. Summer volumes are even quite competitive with bike counters in Europe. www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/chr...

It was @scottlincicome.bsky.social. Scott warned us.

Montreal’s new mayor-elect indicates that her proposed “audit” of the bike network might not be necessary given data the city already collects. Is this a sign of moderating from the campaign populism? Or is it still going in the same direction? Who knows! Hoping for the best.

Bus lane signs are up on parts of Saint-Urbain!

Despite disappointment in Montreal, urbanist politicians had a pretty good night elsewhere in Quebec. In Quebec City, Bruno Marchand handily beat the “Tramway non merci” campaigner. Marchand has also been building a Montreal-style express bike network.

While I voted for Projet Montréal for their record on active transportation, one proposal from Transition I appreciated was electoral reform. Not because I think it will help my policies specifically, but because it’s good for the health of democracy. I’d like to see other parties get on board.

This rhetoric is so bizarre. Former mayor Coderre talks about the end of “one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history”. I understand the parochial concerns like “don’t take away my parking!” *way better* than people who somehow thought the city was in dark decline.

A quick explainer on Montreal’s election: The urbanist Projet Montréal party of outgoing mayor Valérie Plante has lost the election to the opposition Ensemble Montréal. Projet deserves a *lot* of credit for Montreal’s transformation in the past 10 or 15 years to be more bike/pedestrian-friendly.

Did the urbanist side split the vote? Yes, but so did the other side. Currently, if you add Transition’s 8.3% to Projet for mayor, Projet would have won. But there was an even more anti-bike party, Action Montréal, that won 10.2% of the vote. Possible different dynamics in the boroughs.

A quick explainer on Montreal’s election: The urbanist Projet Montréal party of outgoing mayor Valérie Plante has lost the election to the opposition Ensemble Montréal. Projet deserves a *lot* of credit for Montreal’s transformation in the past 10 or 15 years to be more bike/pedestrian-friendly.

Nous avons survécu aux années Tremblay et Coderre, nous allons survivre aux années Ferrada. N'oubliez surtout pas d'appeler et d'envoyer des courriels à vos représentants quand vous n'êtes pas d'accord avec leurs décisions. Il faut les garder aux aguets.

Not looking good for Montreal. At the city level, which isn’t super surprising, but even some concerning early trends in the boroughs.

If you want to watch the results from Montreal (and elsewhere in Quebec): www.youtube.com/live/s9vGg4G...

This is interesting! The claim that the Terrebonne Street bike lane in Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood “blocked access” to Saint Monica's Church. The bike lane out front does not remove *access*. What it did was remove *parking right out front*. What about other parking options? Let’s take a look.

“The President of New York, Karly Hopeful”-tier knowledge of their neighbour

Unfortunately, the Americans are already turning down the White House on their own, so we'll need to find a different target. Sorry.

“The Prime Minister of Ontario” Truly stunning how little these people know about other countries, even neighbouring ones.

New bikeways that have opened (or are very close to opening) in Minneapolis this year: - Hennepin Avenue S - University Avenue SE - 24th Street E - 1st Avenue S (1/2)

Ça se passe dès 20h. Avec entre autre @saulnier.bsky.social, Hugo Lavoie, @renesaintlouis.bsky.social, @jlmcintyre.bsky.social, Rémy Trudel et François Croteau. ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/220...

I was also disappointed in housing discourse this election. Lots of talk about how “we need more affordable housing”, which is fine but easy to say. Didn’t see much deeper recognition that we have a housing shortage brought on by NIMBYism and zoning rules. I voted on active transportation.

Why I’m Worried About This Election youtu.be/Qe5MqhDvoig

Quickly reworking my screenplay about Canada winning the World Series as an allegory for hope in dark times Now it's a screenplay about a city illegally occupied by Trump winning the World Series as an allegory for hope in dark times

I do think AirBnB can drive up rents, especially in neighbourhoods that are supply-constrained and have high tourist demand. But “the vast majority of new condo units” will “eventually be used solely for AirBnB”?!? Doesn’t remotely match any of the data I’ve seen.

IT'S SUPPLY AND DEMAND

2.63% pour les vélos et 97.37% pour les véhicules, est la répartition de l'espace asphalté de l'arrondissement d'Ahuntsic-Cartierville. Moins de bruit, moins de congestion, moins de pollution, et un exercice léger bénéfique pour la santé. Votez l'avenir ! #velomtl #polmtl #vélo #Ahuntsic #Montréal

Doug Ford is a very strange politician. Totally car-brained, awful to cyclists. But is also funding the biggest transit expansion in North America. Tougher than Carney on the US and tariffs. But is also the only person in the world I’ve ever heard say something good about Ambassador Pete Hoekstra.

Just to illustrate the point, here’s how far you can travel in 15 minutes from the Annex in Toronto by different modes. Despite some of the best transit in the country, transit (red) barely gets you further than walking (orange). It also costs money. Cycling (blue) is substantially better.

Watch this if you care about active transportation in Montreal’s election tomorrow!

Assuming this means groceries, I’m not sure transit is well-suited for that? I want to be able to get to the grocery store in under 15 minutes. Ideally by foot, or could be bike. Transit doesn’t work great for such short trips because of the time it takes to walk to the stop and wait for the bus.

Thanks @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social for not only encouraging Montréal residents to go vote on Sunday in their latest clip, but also highlighting how low cost cycling infrastructure is compared to other road and capital works projects. #BikeTO #BikeSky #VeloMTL #TOpoli #polmtl #VisionZero

Why I’m Worried About This Election youtu.be/Qe5MqhDvoig

I’m not exaggerating when I say the US government is acting like an abusive ex towards Canada. Switching between “you suck, I don’t need you” and “you would be nothing without me, don’t you dare talk to anyone else”.

This morning was one of the rare occasions that it rained so much as to make cycling a bad idea for me. (Probably if it happened more here though, I’d be better prepared!)

Canada has strong partners across the Indo-Pacific region.   They share our ambition, they know our values, and we are accelerating our work together to create more prosperity, certainty, and opportunities for our workers. 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇸🇬🇳🇿